When properly designed and constructed, lithium-ion cells can exhibit excellent charge-discharge cycle life, little or no memory effect, and high specific and volumetric energy. However, lithium-ion cells do have some shortcomings, including an inability to tolerate recharge to potentials above the manufacturer's recommended recharge potential without degradation in cycle life, dangers of overheating, fire or explosion for cells recharged to potentials above the recommended recharge potential, and difficulties in making large cells having sufficient tolerance to electrical and mechanical abuse for consumer applications. Single and connected (e.g., series-connected) lithium-ion cells typically incorporate charge control electronics to prevent individual cells from exceeding the recommended recharge potential. This circuitry adds cost and complexity to lithium-ion cells and batteries, which has discouraged their use in low-cost mass market electrical and electronic devices such as flashlights, radios, CD players and the like. Instead, these low cost devices typically are powered by non-rechargeable batteries such as alkaline cells.
Various chemical moieties have been proposed for imparting overcharge protection to rechargeable lithium-ion cells. Chemical moieties designated as “redox shuttles” or “shuttles” will in theory provide an oxidizable and reducible charge-transporting species that may repeatedly transport charge between the negative and positive electrodes once the charging potential reaches a desired value. Materials that function as fuses or shunts to provide one-time or limited-time cell overcharge protection have also been proposed. References relating to rechargeable lithium-ion cell additives or rechargeable lithium-ion cell construction include U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,423 (Abraham et al. '423), U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,255 (Yoshimitsu et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,316 (Redey), U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,000 (Huang et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,599 (Alamgir et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,968 (Shimizu), U.S. Pat. No. 5,763,119 (Adachi), U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,573 (Abraham et al. '573), U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,834 (Mao), U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,812 (Visco et al. '812), U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,698 (Richardson et al. '698), U.S. Pat. No. 6,045,952 (Kerr et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,776 (Mao et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,777 (Reimers et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,516 B1 (Denton, III et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,248,481 B1 (Visco et al. '481), U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,571 B1 (Lain et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,439 B1 (Tsukamoto et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,503,662 B1 (Hamamoto et al.); U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. US 2002/0001756 A1 (Hamamoto et al. '756), US 2003/0068561 A1 (Okahara et al.), US 2004/0028996 A1 (Hamamoto et al. '996) and US 2004/0121239 A1 (Abe et al.); European Patent No. EP 0 776 058 B1 (Moli Energy (1990) Ltd.); Japanese Published Patent Application Nos. 4-055585 (Fuji Electro Chemical Co. Ltd.), 5-036439 (Sony Corp.), 5-258771 (Fuji Denko, Co. Ltd.), 6-338347 (Sony Corp.), 7-302614 (Sony Corp.), 8-115745 (Japan Storage Battery Co., Ltd.), 9-050822 (Sony Corp.), 10-050342 (Sony Corp.), 10-321258 (NEC Moli Energy Canada, Ltd.), 2000-058116 (Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd.), 2000-058117 (Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd.), 2000-156243 (Sony Corp.), 2000-228215 (Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd.), 2000-251932 (Sony Corp.), 2000-277147 (Sony Corp.) and 2001-2103645 (Mitsubishi Chemicals Corp.); PCT Published Patent Application Nos. WO 01/29920 A1 (Richardson et al. '920) and WO 03/081697 A1 (Goh et al.); K. M. Abraham et al., J. Electrochem. Soc., 137, 1856 (1988); L. Redey, The Electrochemical Society Fall Meeting, Chicago, Ill., Extended Abstracts, 88-2 (Oct. 9-14, 1988); K. M. Colbow et al., J. Power Sources 26, 397-402 (1989); S. R. Narayanan et al., J. Electrochem. Soc., 138, 2224 (1991); M. N. Golovin et al., J. Electrochem. Soc., 139, 5 (1992); NTIS Funding Report No. 17908, Optimization of Electrolyte Batteries, Principal Investigator K. M. Abraham, Eic Laboratory, Inc., (1992); A. M. Wilson et al., J. Electrochem. Soc., 142, 326-332 (1995); T. J. Richardson et al., J. Electrochem. Soc., 143, 3992-96 (1996); “NEW TECHNOLOGY: Rechargeable Cell Overcharge Protection”, Battery & EV Technology, 21, 3 (Feb. 1, 1997); M. Adachi et al., J. Electrochem. Soc. 146, 1256 (1999); T. D. Hatchard et al., Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters, 3 (7) 305-308 (2000), D. D. MacNeil et al., A DSC Comparison of Various Cathodes for Li-ion Batteries, J. Power Sources, 108 (1-2): 8-14 (2002), D. Y. Lee et al., Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering, 19, 645 (2002), Xu et al., Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters, 5 (11) A259-A262 (2002) and Xu et al., Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters, 6 (6) A117-A120 (2003).